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Posted on
August 11, 2014 by ADMIN

Arsenal linked with a NEW centre-back target

Now that Arsene Wenger has admitted that he is looking for another centre-back after Thomas Vermaelen left Arsenal for Barcelona, it is no surprise that the papers are looking for new targets after it was revealed that Mats Hummels has been made captain at Dortmund so is definitely not available.

The latest defender to be linked is the 23 year-old Kostas Manolas from Olympiakos.The Greek international has been a regular in the top flight of Greek football for five years with AEK Athens and Olympiakos, so he may not be too keen to be demoted to fourth choice at Arsenal if it will put his international place at risk.

Arsene Wenger…..

“It’s very difficult to compare (with past squads) but yeah, in the last two years I’ve been speaking about big transfers.

“In the years before that we always lost big transfers so (the current policy) has now strengthened the squad.”

“If I can find another centre back I will do it,”

The Metro reports that Juventus and Napoli are both interested, but Arsenal’s relationship with Olympiakos may give the Gunners the edge, especially after loaning them Joel Campbell last season.

Manolas scored five goals in 36 games last season which is a good return for an out and out defender so perhaps he could be utilized in games against softer opposition until he is ready to challenge the ageing Per Mertesacker for a first team place.

43 thoughts on “Arsenal linked with a NEW centre-back target”

i hope we sign him great talent but he is already being linked with a move 2 serie A / howedes would be a good choice or schar we wanted john stones before signing chambers after everton asked for crazy money

but cdm & striker will be the key it’s a long season & we need 2-3 more signings

Personally I think we should have gone For Ginter before Dortmund moved in for him…but i wont be complaining if we get Carvalho,a versatile beast DM..who would cover up for our three CBs…If we are not able to get him..We should go after a Young bossy Cb who challenges mertescielny adequately and eventually takes over in 2-3 years time..Whereas Chambers can very well fullfil the duties at CDM…the kind of interception he was making yesterday..makes me salivate at the prospect of him turning into a beast DM…

Papadoupolous is injury prone and he is on loan at Leverkusen from FC Schalke. Mussachio. I’ve never seen him play so I dont know how good he is, and it looks like spurs arent able to get since villareal is asking for crazy money

Yeah plus Mussachio has a sell on percentage fee with River Plate of Argentina similar to the one we had with Fabregas (the unwanted one). That is why his price is ridiculous because River Plate want to recoup as mush cash as possible.

DID you watch Ginter against Pool. Was terrible.
I do NOT know where this Greek guy plays, either Right side, or Left.
IF Wenger is going to use Chambers as stand-bye CB, then HE is BFGs back up.
We NEED a Left sided CB to stand in for Kos if he gets injured/ needs a rest.
Personally, and listening to Wenger, I think he is looking for a player that can play DM/CB/LB.
Chambers looks very very promising, but, at 19 years of age, he is not yet the answer for a EPL/CL trophy fighting team.

Arsene Wenger: “Samir Nasri talks about us often. He has strong feelings for Arsenal. We have moved on. We are Arsenal. He is only Nasri”
Wenger: “If you lose it, they say you lost a trophy. If you win it, they say it’s only the Community Shield.”

Lol, nice one by the boss. But the best way to treat a fool like nasri is to stop talking about him period!! His not an Arsenal player that’s for sure, and as for me, I have forgot about his performances for us or that he even wore our beautiful shirt.

when Wenger says that he is looking for another CB it doesn’t have to mean that he wants to buy a player who would be our 4th option.. If he finds one that is good enough he could even see Mert moving to bench.. Chambers will be playing mostly like DM (of course he wont start every game) and also will be used to cover CB when others are injured, rested or suspended.. thats the main reason he was bought.

Lowe dropped BFG in the WC, so, do NOT assume that his place is nailed on period.
Kos, like Verm, could get injured, or, have a dip in form and if so, we need a top player to come in.
Personally, and it could get me a lot of thumbs down, against fast counter attacking teams, like Liverpool, I would prefer to see Callum Chambers or someone of the same speed, rather than Mert at CB. The other option, in such games, is to revert to a 3 CB formation with BFG sweeping, that way his lack of speed is not a problem.

This is What Wenger said Yesterday…
on replacing Vermaelen…
What it does in my head is [make me think that] Chambers is among the best three and if I can find another one I will do it. But to find another one of that quality will not be easy because… Vermaelen left us and had the choice between two massive clubs. That means these clubs have looked everywhere as well and that means it’s not easy to find.
on looking for a fourth-choice centre back…
You make your position with your performance and you have to accept that. With the boys who have chosen to live in a competitive world, who plays? I cannot tell you. But maybe a guy who can play in two or three different positions would be a better asset for us.
SO the Message is loud and clear …we are looking for a Versatile player who can play CDM as well as CB..Carvalho anyone..:D

I hope not, I thought Natasic was absolutely atrocious for City in the Community Shield and he was involved with all Arsenal goals. Rather see Schar/Van Dijk if Wenger wants a talent, but I wouldn’t be mad if he went out and bought a defender with multiple years of PL-experience.

Ok, so we know that Wenger is looking for a CB, probably one that is versatile and can play DM. But my question is where is Chambers going to play? He had a great game and his energy and 5 interceptions show he can play DM but will he get a chance with Arteta pretty much guaranteed a starting spot? Mert/Kos will be starting CB’s, and Debuchy as RB. Chambers has got too much talent to be coming off the bench all season. Gosh, I’m so confused!

man city had an obvious gap at back –michelis over the top lescott a joker — and bought mangela not sure he is worth the price tag…but it was clear what they needed and what they have gone for…wenger continues to faf around when everyone knows we need a quality DM —arteta is not capable of filling this position and flamini is erratic and diaby is a kick away from another injury-prone season — who can boss the midfield with no pretension to move forward at every opportunity as we have the right players to do that already….our net spending is not huge so we can pay a bit over the odds so why havent we made an offer of any kind…for a team a couple of signings away from really competing this season it doesnt make sense..

We need a versatile defensive player. Snap up Javi Martinez. Everyone seems to think that Carvalho is a great deal for £25M. If you added another £5M to that and threw £30M at Bayern I think they would sell. Carvalho isn’t world class. Javi Martinez, when he plays DM, is. He occupied the DM position for Bayern under Juup Heynckes when they completely dominated everyone. He can also cover at CB. Martinez would be able to leave as Lahm plays DM under Guardiola and Bayern have Dante, Boateng, Van Buyten and Badstuber to play CB. I’d love to see Javi Martinez in an Arsenal shirt and I think he would be the perfect player. We also have lots of Spanish speaking players so he would fit in well.

Why does everyone want versatile player, surely what we need is a specialist CB a specialist DM a specialist LW and a specialist CF.
To bring those 4 players into the squad we will need to sell, loan out or delist, 3 from ryo, diaby, miquel and coquelin

Versatility means that we can have more players on the squad list. Martinez is incredible at DM and good enough to be 4th choice centre back. A DM should be versatile anyway because they are essentially a CB who is good with their feet. The versatility gives us more variation in attack and also means we have more cover if we get injuries.

Is Miquel really not good enough to be the 4th choice CB behind Chambers? May as well get rid of him then i suppose. It is going to be seriously hard/impossible to get any established CB to join the club so i would have thought our best academy or youth player would be good for a situation like this.

I think Miguel COULD be standby for Kos, and, surprisingly, I thought Monreal did a decent job at CB when used in the EC and against Cty.
Only problem is, ARE they good enough if Kos gets a long term injury.
Problem with keep buying in players is, OUR YOUTH will NEVER get the opportunity to show how good they CAN be, and they need game time, at the highest level to gain the experience and fitness to prove themselves.
CB/DM are the most difficult positions for young players, that is why almost all the top ones are 27 plus, but, if they do not get a chance, they will never develop.

Manolas/Schar would be a great buy, but i am not worried over the fullback position, i think we will do fine there, what is frustrating is wenger taking forever to plug the weakest point in our team.

Chelsea added matic last january because they saw how weak they were in that position, they added Fab for creativity because although they were filled with stars they lacked in that department.
Mancity although quite blessed in the defensive midfield area has added fernando for added steel, he is getting acquainted with the league
Manu has bought in a creative but an all round combatant name Herrera, reminds me of Ramsay, Manu was obviously lacking a spark , now they have it.

Now i have stated the 3 teams above, because they the only three that can stop us from getting the thrown, no disrespect to Tottenham, liverpool and Everton, who will be close by if any falters.
As i said the 3 named above i see has the challengers who have tried to fix their area of weakness.
Wenger in is stubbornness is refusing to fix arsenals, which may be our weak point again for this season. If you going to use chambers there he should have been getting game time in that position over the pre-season. This season will be far more difficult than last, with the new coaches more settle in the top half of the league, so we will have harder matches, so we must ensure we go in the season with al position intacted.